


Loser

by LaTessitrice



Series: Echo Prompts [7]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Echo - Freeform, F/M, When there's so little fic for a pairing you have to write it yourself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 21:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18301877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaTessitrice/pseuds/LaTessitrice
Summary: Tumblr prompt:Omg plzzz write a drabble where max mom keeps tryinf to set him up because she thinks he's making liz up





	Loser

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously inspired by the tags on this post: http://latessitrice.tumblr.com/post/183839907017/you-know-whos-going-to-give-up-50-bucks-to

“You know who just moved back to town? Maeve Holland’s daughter.”

Max takes a deep breath. It’s not a sigh, if only because he doesn’t loudly expel it like he desperately wants to. “Why are you telling me this, mom?

“No reason, I’m only keeping you up to date in case you bump into her.” 

Even on a phone call, the feigned nonchalance is easy to sniff out. “Mom.”

“Alright, I might have passed your number on. She always had a thing for you in school, and she’s really blossomed while she was out in LA.”

“I don’t need your help finding a woman, and I definitely don’t want to date Tess Holland. Not then, not now.”

“I know, I know, you’re seeing somebody.” Max can practically see the air quotes his mother is making as she says it. “But you won’t tell me who, or introduce me to her.”

“It’s early days, and it’s—

“Complicated. That’s what worries me. It sounds like you’re having an affair with a married woman or something.”

“Not complicated. Things have just been hectic. We’re trying to take things slow before we make things official. I’ve got a good feeling about this, mom, and I promise you that when we agree to go public, you’ll be the first to know.”

His mother has no reticence about sighing. “I’d better be. Also, I’m sending you a link to an article I’ve read about RSI I think you might want to pay attention to.”

“ _Mom_.”

* * *

His mother’s gaze is sharp and penetrating as she surveils his house, and then Max himself. “You’re still too skinny. If you had a girlfriend you’d have put some weight on.”

Max is pretty sure she’s also looking for some sign of a feminine touch in the house, but the whole thing was put together by Isobel, and any changes Liz might make are quickly reversed by his sister. The only signs Liz is a frequent visitor are in his bedroom, but there’s no way in hell he’s letting his mother go in there.

“I  _have_  put on weight, mom. Isobel keeps pinching my cheeks and offering to be my gym buddy.”

His mother is not convinced. She folds her arms and frowns at the bookshelves. “You really ought to clear some of those out. Think of what kind of impression it gives someone when you bring them round.”

“That I like to read?”

“Perhaps.” She smoothes out the blanket slung on the back of the sofa. The blanket that’s only there because he and Liz had curled up in front of the fireplace last night while he read e.e. cummings' poetry to her. “Though you know who likes to read a lot and is single?”

Max groans. “Not me. Because I’m not single.”

She continues as if she hasn’t heard him. “Adelaide Walker. She’s a librarian.”

“I know. She runs the book club. We’re friends.” And he also knows that Adelaide is not single, but instead dating one of the waitresses at the Crashdown. They’re keeping it quiet because it’s a small town full of small opinions. Max doesn’t tell his mother this because it’s none of her damn business. “And we’re not into each other.”

“Are you sure? She’s really sweet, and her family make the cutest babies.”

“Good for them. I’m seeing someone and don’t need setting up.”

“So you say.”

* * *

“Why did you tell mom I’m single?” 

Isobel glances up from the magazine she’s flicking through. “I didn’t.”

“Really? Because that’s not what she told me. She said she asked if I was actually dating someone like I keep telling her, and you said no.”

Isobel flips the magazine shut and spreads her hands wide in a gesture of innocence. “I’m sorry, I thought you wanted to keep it secret, so I told her I didn’t know what she was talking about.” Her body language is apologetic. The gleam in her eyes suggests she’s enjoying the chance to torture him. “So when she asked if you’d want to accompany Lisa Simmonds to the next gala, I said I didn’t see why not.

She just about manages to duck the cushion aimed in her direction.

* * *

“I’m not taking anyone to the gala, mom. I have a date that night.  _With my girlfriend_.”  Max cannot believe he’s finally saying that out loud and the primary emotion he’s feeling is annoyance. At least since this is another phone call he doesn’t have to control his facial expressions.

“Max, honey, I want to believe you, I really do, but it’s a small town and nobody’s heard a whisper. You don’t have to be embarrassed about being single. I don’t mind—I’m only interfering because I want you to be happy.”

“I know. And I  _am_.”

“Sweetheart—”

“It’s Liz Ortecho,” he tells her through gritted teeth. Liz will understand, even if the knowledge will spread through his mother’s bridge club and therefore all of Roswell before the end of the day.

“Liz Ortecho? You think you’re dating Liz—the girl you had a crush on in school?” His mother sounds vaguely amused. “Max, we all know she’s engaged to Sofia Elizondo’s nephew. He’s a charming boy, lives in Denver, they’re making it work long distance.”

He knew Diego would surface at some point. Liz had told him her ex-fiance had a tendency towards being clingy, something Max was desperately trying to curtail in himself. “What? No, they broke up before she moved back to Roswell.” 

“Oh, Max. I don’t know whether you’re lying to me or to yourself at this point.”

He gives up. He doesn’t have much choice, because he’s just launched his phone across the room. At this point, he’s pretty sure the only way his mother will believe him about Liz is if she catches them in the act, and there’s no easy way of making that suggestion to Liz.


End file.
